TALLADEGA, Alabama -- Construction is underway on the Talladega Marksmanship Park, a project of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). The $20 million state of the art shooting range is to open March of 2015.

Construction Crews are using heavy equipment to move 600,000 cubic yards of dirt to create the state of the art shooting facility on 500 acres not far for the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega County.

Jim Townsend with CMP said the project is on schedule and proceeding as planned. When open, he said the public facility will offer competitive pricing for a first class shooting experience.

Talladega Marksmanship Park will offer shooting enthusiasts a wide selection of shooting disciplines from centerfire, rimfire rifle and pistol shooting to several stations for shotgunning.

Talladega Marksmanship Park Construction 3-25-14Construction continues on the Talladega Marksmanship Park, a project of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). The state of the art shooting range is to open March of 2015. (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com).

The centerpiece of the project is a fully electronic scoring system on a rifle range features yardage positions at 200-300-600 yards on a terraced site. A newly developed target system is being testing right now at the CMP headquarters in Anniston for use at the new facility. (More on that next month). A 100 yard multi-use range will be available to site in rifles and pistols before moving to the longer ranges.

There will be 50 fire points or positions to accommodate shooters with the space to double that capacity, if needed, in the future. All firing points are covered so weather won't be a factor. Scoring will be seen in real time from the shooter's position. This will help the shooter make the best use of his/her time at the range.

If you like to shoot pistols, a wide variety of options are available. There is a 50 foot pistol range, a 25 to 50 yard pistol range and 15 different Action Pistol ranges from 25-50 yards with 50 firing points.

Then there is shotgunning. The park will feature a 15 position sporting clays course in a beautiful setting. Also featured will be a 5 stand overlay trapshooting field. The shotgun areas are set in the woods away from the rifle and pistol ranges.

Everything will be situated around a 13,000 sq. ft. clubhouse that sits on a hill above it all with vistas of the rolling hills of Talladega County.

The mission of the CMP is to promote firearm safety and marksmanship training
with an emphasis on youth.